Ken Griffin Net Worth (Updated 2024)

What is Ken Griffin’s Net Worth?

Ken Griffin has an estimated net worth of $37 billion, making him one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. His wealth is primarily derived from his ownership and management of Citadel LLC and Citadel Securities. He is the founder, CEO, and co-chief investment officer of Citadel LLC and founder of Citadel Securities.

Founded in 1990, Citadel LLC manages a substantial amount of assets, with figures ranging from $58 billion to $92.46 billion in assets under management as of recent reports. The hedge fund has generated approximately $74 billion in total gains since its inception, making it the most successful hedge fund of all time.

Citadel Securities, a market-making firm, also founded by Griffin, plays a significant role in his financial success. It provides liquidity and trading services to various financial institutions and has been highly profitable.

Here’s the breakdown of Ken Griffin’s net worth:

If you’re curious about how we estimate a celebrity’s net worth, you can check out our methodology here.

Early Life

Kenneth Cordele Griffin was born on October 15, 1968, in Daytona Beach, Florida. He grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, with some time spent in Texas and Wisconsin. Griffin’s father was a building supplies executive and project manager for General Electric, while his grandmother, Genevieve Huebsch Gratz, inherited an oil business, three farms, and a seed business. Griffin attended Boca Raton Community High School, where he was the president of the math club and ran a discount mail-order education software firm out of his bedroom.

Griffin’s interest in finance began early. He started trading convertible bonds from his Harvard dorm room in 1987, using $265,000 he raised from his grandmother and other investors.

Despite a ban on running businesses from campus, he convinced school administrators to allow him to install a satellite dish on the roof of his dormitory to receive real-time stock quotes. Griffin graduated from Harvard University in 1989 with a degree in economics.

Career

After graduating from Harvard, Griffin moved to Chicago to work with Frank Meyer, founder of Glenwood Capital Investments. Meyer allotted $1 million of Glenwood capital for Griffin to trade, and Griffin made a 70% return in a year. In 1990, Griffin founded Citadel LLC with $4.6 million in assets under management. The firm quickly grew, delivering annualized returns of more than 25% over the next decade and a half.

Citadel LLC is now one of the largest hedge funds in the world, managing approximately $63 billion in assets as of December 2023. The firm employs a variety of investment strategies, including fixed income and macro, quantitative strategies, commodities, equities, and credit. Griffin also founded Citadel Securities, a leading global market-making business, which was valued at $22 billion in a 2022 investment round.

Griffin’s career has not been without challenges. During the 2008 financial crisis, Citadel’s funds lost $9 billion, but they recovered all their losses by January 2012. Griffin has also faced legal battles, including a withdrawn fraud accusation in 2006 and controversies surrounding his portrayal in the 2023 film “Dumb Money”.

Meme Stock Controversy

Ken Griffin and Citadel were central figures in the 2021 GameStop short squeeze, a significant event in the financial markets where retail investors coordinated to drive up the price of GameStop stock, causing substantial losses for hedge funds with short positions. Citadel provided a $2 billion capital infusion to Melvin Capital, one of the hedge funds heavily shorting GameStop, which drew significant attention and controversy.

During the height of the meme stock frenzy, Citadel and Robinhood, a commission-free trading platform, were accused of colluding to halt the trading of GameStop shares. This led to a hearing by the House Financial Services Committee, where Griffin denied any misconduct.

Internal communications revealed that Robinhood executives had numerous conversations with Citadel employees, but a U.S. District Court dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Robinhood and Citadel, stating there was no evidence of collusion.

Art Collection

Ken Griffin is renowned for his extensive and valuable art collection, which is considered one of the most significant private collections in the world. His collection includes masterpieces by some of the most celebrated artists, such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul Cézanne, and Jasper Johns.

Griffin’s notable acquisitions include:

• Willem de Kooning’s “Interchange”: Purchased for $300 million.
• Jackson Pollock’s “Number 17A”: Acquired for $200 million.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump”: Bought for $100 million.
• Paul Cézanne’s “Curtain, Jug and Fruit Bowl”: Purchased for $60 million.
• Jasper Johns’ “False Start”: Acquired for $80 million.

Griffin has moved several of his high-profile artworks from the Art Institute of Chicago to the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, following his relocation to Miami. His collection at the Norton includes Mark Rothko’s “No. 2 (Blue, Red and Green)” and Roy Lichtenstein’s “Ohhh…Alright…”. Griffin’s art collection is valued at approximately $1 billion, and he has been recognized as one of the top 200 art collectors globally.

Philanthropy

Ken Griffin is a prolific philanthropist, having donated over $1.5 billion to various causes and institutions. His philanthropic efforts span a wide range of areas, including education, healthcare, cultural institutions, and civic engagement.

His major contributions include:

• Education: Griffin has made significant donations to educational institutions, including $150 million to Harvard University for undergraduate financial aid and $125 million to the University of Chicago’s Department of Economics.
• Healthcare: In 2024, Griffin donated $50 million to Baptist Health South Florida to advance neurological care, marking the largest gift in the institution’s history. He also contributed $25 million to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami.
• Cultural Institutions: Griffin has supported numerous cultural institutions, including $125 million to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, $40 million to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and $20 million to the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach.
• Civic Engagement: Griffin founded the Griffin Catalyst initiative, which focuses on civic engagement and community impact, reflecting his commitment to promoting individual opportunity and future success.
  Griffin’s philanthropy has earned him several accolades, including the 2022 Simon-DeVos Prize for Philanthropic Leadership, which recognizes his exemplary leadership and impactful charitable giving.

Homes

Ken Griffin’s real estate portfolio is as impressive as his art collection, featuring some of the most expensive and luxurious properties in the world. His holdings include residences in New York, Chicago, Miami, Palm Beach, London, and other locations.

Below are some of his notable properties:

• New York City: Griffin set a U.S. real estate record in 2019 by purchasing a $238 million penthouse at 220 Central Park South, the highest price ever paid for a home in the country.
• Palm Beach, Florida: Griffin has spent over $450 million assembling a 25-acre estate, which is expected to become the most expensive home in the world, valued at around $1 billion upon completion. The estate includes multiple properties along Blossom Way and South Ocean Boulevard, featuring a massive 50,000-square-foot mansion.
• Chicago, Illinois: Before relocating to Miami, Griffin owned several high-profile properties in Chicago, including a $58.75 million condo in the Gold Coast area.
• London, UK: In 2019, Griffin purchased a 16,000-square-foot mansion near Buckingham Palace for $122 million, making it one of the most expensive homes in London.
• Miami, Florida: Griffin set a Miami-Dade County record by buying a $106.9 million waterfront estate in Coconut Grove, which includes two mansions and extensive water frontage.

Ashley Roberts

Ashley Roberts is the founder of Real-Time Billionaires List. She founded this platform because she likes to know how much celebrities are actually making. She is always curious why these people can make much more money than the ordinary person.

With a Bachelor’s degree in finance, she is skilled at financial analysis and understands numbers related to wealth. Most of the articles on this site are edited by herself before publishing.